4 Futile Four Teams (teams not eligible for the playoffs).
2 rounds (Best of 3 each)
Futile Four winner receives #1 overall pick for the following seasons draft

Franchise
Players:

Each team will be allowed to keep up
to 6 Keepers on their roster from the
previous season.

Preseason Format
(Short
Version):

February 20: Deadline for
returning owners to renew their teams. Teams not renewed by this date will
be considered abandoned

February 21: Process begins for filling abandoned teams. Signups still accepted for new team owners until
all teams filled.

While abandoned teams are being filled: Feedback will be requested
from existing team owners to determine best draft date for your league

After all teams are filled: Preseason trading period begins. Draft
dates will be determined and announced during the trading period. (Draft
dates will typically be Friday night, Saturday or Sunday as close to opening day as possible)

After preseason trading period ends: 6 Keepers are due to the league commissioner.

After keepers have been announced to the league by the commissioner: A 2nd short trading period (a few days) will begin. The league commissioner will announce start and end dates for this short trading period.

On your leagues scheduled draft date and time: Drafting will begin.

NOTE: You do not have to remember all these dates. This is just an
overview of how things work. More specific dates will be provided as this
process moves along.

TEAM ROSTERS

Team Rosters:

25 players drafted from any position you choose, but must have a player in each "active" roster position each week.

Illegal Lineup: If at any time during the season it is discovered that a team posts an illegal lineup, past or current, they will receive zero points for the entire week the infraction occurred. Please make sure you have the correct lineup entered each week, as every team owner can view your roster for each week of the season whenever they desire.

Illegal Lineup Exception: A team with less than the required players in the lineup in which the league commissioner feels was done unintentionally, will have their vacant players scored zero point only. The remaining players on their roster will earn points like usual. Only the positions left vacant will receive zero points.

This is for unintentional situations only. Any attempts to throw games will be dealt with harshly and subject to possible termination from the league.

Keepers:

Teams may keep up to 6 keepers. They can be from any
position.

Teams will not lose any draft picks as a result of keeping any of
these players. (In some leagues, you lose a draft pick for each keeper you
keep on your roster. This league you do not)

If a team decides to keep less than 6 players, the extra picks will be
made at the end of the draft.

The deadline for submitting your list of keepers will be determined by the commissioner before the beginning of the
new season.

The Draft:

The draft order each season will be determined by the previous years regular season records in reverse order with two exceptions. These changes are for ROUND 1 ONLY:

1.) The first 4 picks in the draft are as follows:1. Futile Four Winner
2. Futile Four Runner Up
3. Futile Four 1st Round Loser (High Regular Season Point Total)
4. Futile Four 1st Round Loser (Low Regular Season Point Total)
This applies to Round 1 only of the draft2) The league champion from the previous season:The league champion from the previous season will draft last in round one. This applies for Round 1 only of the draft.Rounds 2-19 will revert back to regular season standings (snake draft).

PLAYOFFS

How Many
Teams Make The Playoffs:

8 teams

Format For Each
Playoff
Round:

Round 1: 2-week-total-points. The team to win
2 games advances. If both teams win a game, the team with the highest total points for the 2 weeks
combined will advance to the next round.Round 2:2-week-total-points. The team to win
2 games advances. If both teams win a game, the team with the highest total points for the 2 weeks
combined will advance to the next round.

Seeds 4 through 8
are seeded 4-8 by wildcard using the Tiebreak Rules.

Teams reseed after each round according to original playoff seedings. Highest seeds always play the lowest seeds

See "Tiebreak Rules" section for more info

Playoff
Brackets:

Remaining teams after each round will be reseeded according to playoff seedings
at the start of the playoffs. The highest seed
remaining will always play the lowest seed of the remaining teams in each
round.

1) Total Bench Points
2) Highest Individual Starter Point Total For That Week
3) Next Highest Individual Starter Point Total For That Week
4) Repeat #3 (If all starters are used and a tiebreaker is still not determined, use the same format using bench players)

FUTILE FOUR TOURNAMENT

Teams Involved:

The teams not involved in the Playoffs (the
teams ranked 9-12 in the standings)

How Many
Rounds:

2 rounds, Best of 3, beginning the same week as the
playoffs

Why Is This
Tournament Important?:

The winner of this playoff will receive 1st overall pick in next seasons draft

What Happens To
The
Teams That
Don't Win:

The remaining 3 teams picks in next
seasons draft revert back to reverse of last seasons
regular season standings with the exception of Round 1. Round 1 looks like this:

2nd Overall pick: Futile Four Runner Up
3rd Overall pick: Futile Four 1st Round Loser (High Regular Season Point Total)
4th Overall pick: Futile Four 1st Round Loser (Low Regular Season Point Total)
This applies to Round 1 only of the draft

Format For Each
Futile
Four Round:

Round 1: Best of 3 Round 2: Best of 3

Futile Four Game
Tiebreakers:

1) Total Bench Points
2) Highest Starter's Total Points
3) Next Highest Starter's Total Points
4) Repeat #3 (If all starters are used and a tiebreaker is still not
determined, use the same format using bench players)

The bracket for the "Futile
Four" tournament is intended to give the lower seeds a little advantage much like a draft lottery.

TRANSACTIONS, FREE AGENTS

Eligibility:

In all transactions (add/drops, free agents, trades), all players acquired are not eligible to play until the beginning of the week following the week the transaction was made.

Likewise, any player who is removed from a roster will not be removed until the beginning of the week following the week it was made in. Therefore these players may
play out the week for the team releasing/trading them.

Roster Limits:

A team roster may never have more than the
25 players allowed. Therefore, in order for any owner to pick up a player, they must
release another to keep their roster legal.

WAIVERS

Length of Waiver
Period

48 hours

During this time, team owners
can make a claim for that player. The player may be claimed provided your team is highest in the waiver order of those
team owners interested in that player.

Each week, the waiver order will be set based on overall standings with the worst team (according to record) at the top of the waiver order and best team at the bottom.

Once a
team receives a player during any one waivers period, they will be moved to the
bottom of the waiver order and everyone else moves up one. This process
continues until all players on the list have been claimed.

Waiver Order:

Worst Overall Record of Teams Involved-This will reset each week based on
this format

Clearing Waivers:

If nobody makes a claim for that player in that 48 hour period, they will return to the free agent pool where they can be chosen by anyone on a first-come
first-serve basis.
(This rule is to help the teams at the bottom of the standings have first choice on dropped
players to hopefully improve their teams)

Preseason Waivers:

Immediately after the draft, a 48
hour waivers period will be run. Any player not already on a team roster
will be available using this waivers process. After this 48 hour waivers
period has completed, any player not on a team roster will be available on
a first-come first-serve basis.

TRADES

Process For All Trades:

Trades may be done during the season in the following formats:
1.) Player for Player
2.) Player for draft pick (Draft picks are for the upcoming draft only-No
future years draft picks are allowed to be traded)
3.) Any combination of #1 and #2

When submitting a trade, both teams must submit the trade to the
league commissioner, and if you wish, provide information as to why this
trade benefits all teams involved (especially if it looks a little one
sided on paper).

Trades will then be sent via email to be voted on by the
league. (Make sure your email address is current with the commish at all
times)

Voting will last 48 hours from the time the trade is posted for voting to the league by the
league commissioner. If there are enough votes to approve/reject a trade,
the league commissioner won't wait the full 48 hours to approve/reject the
trade.

If you do not vote on a trade it will be assumed that
you agree with however the voting turns out. The league commissioner will have final say on all
trades regardless of the vote.

If the trade
involves an uneven swap of players (one player traded for two players is
an example) and you are receiving an extra player in a trade, you will
have to drop an existing player off your roster to make room. This must be
done before your roster deadline each week or you will have an illegal
lineup.

TRADES FOR DRAFT PICKS FOR THE FOLLOWING SEASON: Any team owner wishing to trade away draft picks for the following season must pay their entry fee for the following season before the trade can be put up for a vote. Draft picks traded during preseason trading are excluded from this rule. (This prevents teams from unloading draft picks for the following season knowing they will not be returning)

Also, there will be no refunds awarded to team owners who pay next seasons entry fee and then decide not to return the following season, so please make sure for certain you are returning before you trade away next seasons draft picks.

Once a trade has been agreed upon
and sent to the league commissioner for a vote by the league, team owners
may not back out of the trade. NOTE: There is no gray area with this, even if the trade was accepted by accident. So please make sure, before you click that "Accept" button and send it to the commish/other team, that you are absolutely sure its a trade you want to make.

Trade Deadline and
Playoffs:

1.) From the end of our draft through the end of Week #15 (Trade Deadline is the end of Week #15): Unlimited Trades or Transactions

2.) After Week #15: No trades allowed. Only adds and drops will be
permitted. As soon as you are eliminated from the playoffs, your roster
will be frozen and no adds/drops will be allowed.

As soon as the Fantasy Playoffs are complete: The off-season roster
freeze is in effect league wide

TRADING AWAY DRAFT PICKS AT THE TRADE DEADLINE: Any team owner wishing to trade draft picks for the following season just before the deadline will also have to pay their entry fee for the following season before the trade can be put up for a vote, just like any other time during the season.

IMPORTANT: However, since the trade deadline comes into play, the team owner will have 48 hours from the time he accepts the trade to pay his entry fee or the trade will be rejected. Once the entry fee is paid, the league commissioner will put the trade up for voting like normal.

Please remember that there are no refunds awarded to team owners who pay next seasons entry fee and then decide not to return the following season, so please make sure for certain you are returning before you trade away next seasons draft picks.

LEAGUE SETUP

Player Pool:

American and National Leagues

Position Eligibility:

HITTERS:
10 games at
a position this year or last year. STARTERS: 5 games started this year or last year.RELIEVERS: 10 games in relief this year or last year

NOTE: The league manager (CBS Sportsline) lists each player
according to their expected position for the upcoming season and
according to the position eligibility listed above. If a team owner notices a player fits the criteria of
the eligibility listed above, the league commissioner will need to make
the change manually. Contact the league commissioner for an official
ruling and he will make the change if applicable.

Position Questions:

If a player should
be in a different position than drafted, please let the commish know
shortly after the draft so he can make the proper adjustments

Weekly Starting Lineups:

Each week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday

Each fantasy team is responsible for submitting a starting lineup prior to the date/time CBS locks down lineups each week. This lineup will be used for the week starting the following day.

If a roster is not turned in, the previous weeks roster will be applied for the current week. The exception to this rule is as follows:

Week 1: If you do not submit a lineup for Week 1 before the deadline, your starting lineup will be your 6 keepers and the first 9 picks of your draft that meet the starting roster criteria. This will be the case regardless of injury. Please submit your roster as you will want to try to avoid this.Important:It is the responsibility of all team owners to make sure that weekly changes get accepted via the online league manager on time (if you make any). The league commissioner will not be responsible for any changes being late, lost or misdirected as a result of any computer malfunction, delay, etc. If you are having computer problems, contact the commissioner before the deadline and he will enter your desired changes for you.

PRESEASON SCHEDULE

1.) Deadline For Returning
Teams:

February 20: Team owners have until this date to renew their teams.February 21: Teams not renewed by this date will be considered
abandoned and will begin to be filled according to the waiting list of those signups
wishing to acquire an abandoned team.

2.) Abandoned Teams
Filled:

Waiting List for Abandoned Teams: Those wishing to sign up for an
abandoned team will be placed on a list according to date of entry fees
paid. When it is your turn to choose an abandoned team, you will be
provided with a list of teams and be able to view the rosters and position
in the draft order of those teams before selecting which team you would
like to have.

Abandoned Team Selection: After the deadline for
returning teams has passed (February 20), abandoned teams will begin being filled. Those
that are on the waiting list for an abandoned team will have choice of all
abandoned teams available when it is their turn to select a team. Once your team is chosen, you will be able to make trades using the full roster of players you
just acquired, in the trading period that follows. You will choose
your franchise players (keepers) at the same time as everyone else in the
league.

A NOTE ABOUT ABANDONED TEAMS: Not all abandoned teams are bad, neglected teams. In these leagues, more frequently than not, teams are abandoned prior to the next season due to team owner financial issues or time constraints causing them to give up their teams. With a small number of keepers, turning these teams into winners are managable in the first season.

3.) Draft Day
Availability Feedback:

While abandoned teams are being
filled, each team owner will be contacted to find out their availability
for the upcoming draft.

Once all feedback has been received, a draft date and time will be chosen
based on the best availability for the league and this date will be
announced to the league before any trading begins or keepers are
announced.

IMPORTANT: It's not guaranteed, but we will do our best to choose a
draft day that everyone can be present for.

4.) Trading Period

After teams are filled in their respective leagues, and if time warrants, a trading period will conducted where teams can make
trades before keepers need to be announced.

The length of this trading period will be announced before any trading
beginsSee trading section of this rules page for more info on how trading
works.

5.)Keepers Announced:

After the trading period has
concluded, up to 6 keepers shall be chosen by each team owner.

The deadline to send these keepers in will be announced before keepers
will be due

6.) Additional Trading Period

After the league commissioner announces keepers for the league, an additional, short, trading period will begin over a period of a few days before the draft. The league commissioner will announce the start and end dates of this trading period before trading begins again.

DRAFTING PROCEDURE

Draft Day:

Drafting will be done all in one day

For the 1st Round of the draft only, the draft timer will be set at 2
minutes. This is to ensure that everyone (including new team owners) can
make a pick on their own and minor problems can be rectified. Please
make sure you are drafting your team on a computer that is fast enough to
handle the draft room. Java or any other realtime software will be needed

Beginning Round 2 through the end of the draft, the draft timer will be set at 90 seconds per pick.

Here are 4 options you have in order to make your pick

1.) Make the pick yourself within the 2 minutes/90 seconds

2.) If you cannot make the draft, place players in
your draft queue and click on "Auto Pilot" The first player listed
in your draft queue will be chosen for you immediately when you are on the
clock, instead of being chosen from the draft rankings list. It will not
wait for your time limit to expire and will keep the draft moving. This
format is strongly encouraged if you aren't going to be available for the
draft.

3.) If you have no players on "auto pilot" and your time expires, your pick will be made for you by the draft
rankings list provided by the league manager. You can make changes to this
list if you wish, but this is where the player will be chosen from if your
time runs out.

4.) You can
leave the league commissioner 2 lists:

List 1: a list of positions by round that you wish to draft. (Example: 1st Round: Pitcher; 2nd Round: Outfielder)

List 2: a list of players in order of preference divided into positions. (There should be a total of 230 players on this list.)

The commish will then look at List 1 to determine which position to draft. Then he will choose a player from the players listed by position in List 2 and choose the highest available player from that list.

In the example above: Round 1 is a pitcher, so the commish would look for a pitcher from the list of pitchers still available in List 2.For more information on the "draft queue" and "player rankings", the help section of the league manager provides instructions on this or you can contact your league commish. Also, detailed instructions on how the draft room works is provided by clicking on this link:DRAFT INSTRUCTIONS

Dropping/Trading Players During
The Draft:

There
will be no dropping of players, nor will there be any trading allowed during the draft under any circumstances.

Waiver Period After The
Draft:

Once the draft is over, all players not on a team roster will be placed in
a 48 hour waiver period, also known as preseason waivers.

Teams have 48 hours to make claims on players not
taken in the draft. This works the same way as normal waivers except the
waiver order will be determined by the Round 2 draft order.

Once a
team at the top of the list receives a player they will be moved to the
bottom of the waiver order and everyone else moves up one. This process
continues until all players on the list have been claimed.

After the waiver period is complete, all players not on a roster are now
free agents and can be added on a first come-first serve basis.

SCORING-HITTING

At Bat:

-0.5 points

Strikeout:

-0.5 points

Single:

2 points

Run Scored:

1 point

Double:

3 points

Stolen Base:

2 points

Triple:

4 points

Caught Stealing:

-1 point

Homerun:

5 points

Hit By Pitch:

1 point

Run Batted In:

1 point

Error:

-1 point

Walk:

1 point

Grand Slam

4 points

SCORING-PITCHING

Win:

6 points

Effectiveness:

(2 x IP) - (2 x ER)

Loss:

-1 point

Walk Allowed:

-0.5 points

Save:

6 points

Strikeouts:

0.5 points

Blown Save:

-2 points

Hits Allowed:

-0.5 points

Quality Start:

3 points

Wild Pitch:

-1 point

Complete Game:

5 points

Balk:

-1 point

Shutout:

5 points

Hit Batter:

-1 point

No Hitter:

10 points

COST TO PLAY

$79 full season entry feeNo Additional Costs For Transactions or Trades